After a challenging second day for India in the Manchester Test, R Ashwin questioned the team selection following England’s aggressive response with the bat.
After putting up a first-innings total of 358 in the fourth Test, India found themselves under pressure as Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett launched a blistering counterattack. The English openers stitched together a 166-run stand in just 32 overs, seizing the momentum with their aggressive strokeplay and leaving the Indian bowlers searching for answers. England ended the day at 225-2, going at 4.89 an over in a session that has possibly seen the series slip away from the hosts, who currently trail 1-2.
Ashwin has questioned India’s selection strategy, suggesting that their continued prioritisation of batting depth may have prevented them from fielding their strongest XI. He was critical of the decision to pick Shardul Thakur ahead of Kuldeep Yadav, arguing that the latter could have plucked out at least a wicket and broken the dangerous stand upfront by inflicting doubts in their minds.
Ashwin spoke on his YouTube channel: “If somebody had told me that Kuldeep Yadav would not be playing any part in the first four Tests, I would have been very, very surprised. Unfortunately, it is our obsession with batting and looking for those 20-30 extra runs. Gone are those days in England; the advantage of 20-30 runs is gone. If your No.7 makes 30 runs, and your No.8 makes 30 runs, you have an extra 60 runs. Earlier, the 60 runs used to be very useful, because bowlers used to get help from the pitch. Nowadays, picking up 2-3 wickets is even more critical than those 30-40 runs.”
Ashwin: If you will give limited overs to Shardul, why not pick Kuldeep?
Ashwin also questioned the usage of Shardul, who replaced Nitish Kumar Reddy in the XI after the latter was ruled out due to an injury. Shardul had played the first Test, making 1 and 4, and bowled 16 overs across the game for two wickets. He was replaced by Reddy, but found a place in the side for the fourth Test.
Shardul scored 41 in the first innings while batting at No.7, but bowled only five overs out of 46 as India failed to make early inroads. Ashwin said the repeated omissions of Kuldeep, who could have had a greater impact with the ball on Thursday, were “blowing his head away”.
“If you are only planning to give Shardul Thakur this many overs, and expect 20-30 runs from him – I love Shardul Thakur, I like him a lot – but if this is the usage point, why can’t you consider Kuldeep Yadav? It is just blowing my head away. I know it seems against the grain because it is three spinners, but it is not that way. Ravindra Jadeja is a specialist batter for you now. Washington Sundar is also batting well. When your bowlers can bat so well, why are you not bringing an attacking bowler? That just blows my head away. Today, Jassi [Bumrah] was bowling, and after that, it looked like India had no other options to take a wicket.
“I am not saying that Kuldeep would have picked up five wickets if he were playing, but it plays with a batter’s mind. The wickets in India last year were similar too – flat and lots of runs – and he had bowled well. A lot of these guys don’t pick him, and this was a great opportunity. He would have at least picked one wicket – maybe given 40 runs – but broken the opening partnership. I feel India missed someone like Kuldeep Yadav on day two.”
Kuldeep has played 13 Tests for India, taking 56 wickets at 22.16, including four five-wicket hauls.
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